INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - HALLWAY - NIGHT
John walks down a long hallway. He's got a prescription bag from the pharmacy in his hands. He stops near a door, and fumbles for his keys. He drops the keys and leans down to get them.
As he leans down, a SHADOWY RED EYED FIGURE is visible behind him, staring in his direction.
When he stands back up, he is completely unaware of that presence.
He puts his key in the lock and enters the house.
As he leaves the frame, the figure that was watching him has disappeared.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
John sits at his computer. He receives an I.M. with a video attached. It's from JAKE, 20s-30s.
John's curiosity peaks, so he clicks the video and enlarges it on his screen.
A half-naked, terrified man gazes in a deranged fashion through the lens of the camera. He wears something red as well.
JOHN Is that... Jake? What the hell?
John watches the video.
JAKE VO John, if you're seeing this video... listen close. Don't look them in the eyes. Whatever you do, don't look them in the eyes!
In the background there are loud BANGING noises.
Jake panics.
JAKE VO They already know... They've found me!
BANGS, WOOD SPLINTERING, and incoherent SHOUTS of terror and anger ensue. The video cuts out and ends with static noise.
JOHN What the fuck?
John searches for Jake's SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE. He scrolls through and sees pictures of Jake with his family and friends.
He sees a picture of himself with Jake from years before.
JOHN What the hell happened to you, Jake?
A sudden burst of LIGHTNING and CRASH OF THUNDER shuts off John's electricity.
JOHN Aw, shit.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - NIGHT
John wears a wife-beater and boxers with a towel over his shoulder, and he brushes his teeth. The sound of the RAIN echoes in the background. He leans down to rinse his mouth out, and behind him is a terrifying shadow figure. A crack of THUNDER and He stands back up and wipes his face with the towel. He pauses, frowns, and turns around as though he sensed something was... odd. He sees nothing. He grabs his new medication, stares at it for a moment, then reconsiders and puts it down. He exits the bathroom, leaving his towel on the counter as he exits. When he turns off the lights, in the mirror, two bright red lights hover exactly where the eyes of the figure had been.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
John crawls into bed and covers himself up.
He stares at his ceiling, lost in thought.
His eyes drift closed.
TRANSITION ON EYES
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
TRANSITION ON EYES - MATCHCUT
DREAM SEQUENCE:
John rolls over in his sleep. He wraps an arm around a mannequin. He frowns, opens his eyes and sees his room transformed into a nightmarish world.
He yanks his arm away from the mannequin. It turns its head towards him.
Then, his laptop starts playing the video with Jake.
JAKE VO John!
John's head snaps over and he looks at the computer.
JAKE VO Don't look at its eyes John!
John looks back at the mannequin. In its place is the terrifying black figure that haunted him in the bathroom and the hallway.
He shrieks and pulls away. He scrambles on his bed towards the wall while covering his eyes.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - NIGHT
John scrambles away from the wall, covering his eyes. He yells in terror.
JOHN No! No!
John calms down and realizes that he is awake again. His room is returned to normal, and the terrifying figure from his dream is gone.
JOHN What the fuck was that?!
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - KITCHEN - LIVING ROOM - DAY
SUPER: DAY 1
John makes breakfast. He dices vegetables, sautées onions, flips a pancake.
He finishes cooking, turns off the oven, and carries his full plate of food over to his couch.
Once at his couch, he flips on the television but gets nothing but static on every channel.
JOHN Come on, really?
Frustrated, he grabs a land-line phone and turns off the television.
A dial-tone can be heard from his phone, and he gets a busy signal followed by an electronic voice.
ELECTRONIC VOICE VO I'm sorry, but your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please hang up and try again.
JOHN Oh, for fuck's sake!
John tosses the phone away and goes back to his food.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BATHROOM - DAY
John shaves in the bathroom mirror, calmly.
He accidentally nicks himself and sees the blood on his finger.
JOHN Shit.
A drop of his blood falls on his pill bottle, still unopened.
John picks up the bottle and stares at the blood. He can hear his heartbeat speeding up as he looks at it.
He looks back up at the mirror, and a man wearing a torn up wifebeater, with a crazed look in his eyes is standing there. It's John's FATHER. John flips shit.
When he turns, nobody is there. He looks at the pills again and leaves the bottle on the counter before walking out.
INT. JOHN'S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - DAY
John sits at his desk, working at his computer in silence.
His fingers tap on his keyboard.
He scrolls through an article about "Shadow People".
He takes notes on a clipboard.
John stops on an image of a shadow person. It looks like the creature which he saw in his dream.
It's got red eyes that glow.
John leans back in his chair and stares at the drawing.
The drawing seems to blink, which makes John rub his eyes and lean closer to it for a better look.
It seems to blink again.
JOHN What the fu-
His voice is cut off by the sound of his cell-phone which RINGS and VIBRATES.
John picks up the phone.
JOHN Hello?
John listens. There's static in the background.
JOHN Hello? Anyone there?
The static continues. John is about to hang up when
SARA VO John?
JOHN Sara? What's going on?
SARA VO Hey! I was just calling to check up on you! Haven't heard from you in a while!
JOHN Uh, yeah. I'm fine. You?
SARA VO I'm great. So, listen, I was arranging a get together with some friends... Do you maybe want to join in?
John stands and walks over to his bed where he flops down and stretches out.
JOHN Yeah, I'm not a party person.
SARA VO I know that, silly! Anywho, where are you at? Maybe I can swing by?
JOHN I'm at home. Are you close?
SARA VO Yeah, I'm by the bridge.
John frowns and sits up slowly.
JOHN Sara, that's... That's nowhere near here.
Sara's line goes dead silent. Static fills the air.
JOHN Sara...?
SARA VO Hey, sorry about that, you're right, I'm way far away. What's your address again?
JOHN Sara, you've been coming to my place for years...
The line goes dead again.
JOHN Sara? You there? Sara?
She doesn't reply. John hangs up the phone.
He shakes his head as he ponders. In the background, his computer screen shuts off on its own.
Tossing his phone to the side, John curls up for a nap.